I spent a lot of 2014 listening to the news and feeling like the whole world was falling apart. Some days, the mere idea of engaging in a task like writing an album review seemed like the most inane thing I could do as a human being. All the music blogs, or the news of the latest thing U2 did or Noel Gallagher said — it all felt like so much noise compared to, oh, Ebola. But then I'd remember that humanity would be nothing without music, and the many times, as a kid, that it felt like music saved my life. When the headlines got to be more than I could bear, I took refuge in these 10 great songs (and five runners-up).

10. Haley Bonar - "Last War"
I've always enjoyed Haley Bonar's songs, and "enjoyed" really is the right word — it was always in that I-won't-change-the-station-way, as opposed to any kind of serious fandom. But "Last War," merging Bonar's girly soprano with dark bass and nervy, locomotive guitar, took my love of Haley to the next level.

9. First Aid Kit - "Stay Gold"
I've loved First Aid Kit since '08, when I heard them do a stunning cover of Fleet Foxes' "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song," but with Stay Gold — both the track and the album—the sisters' willowy style has matured into a Bonanza-big sound that inducts these recent-teens into official Ladies of the Canyon status.

8. FKA Twigs - "Two Weeks"
I don't even know what to do with this song or where to put it. It's not merely R&B. It's like a slowed-down Aaliyah song, were her work produced by James Blake, with a vocalist who hits the ethereal strata occupied by Mariah Carey or Elizabeth Frazier of Cocteau Twins. And those otherworldly vocals sing of things so earthly and carnal, and with such womanly command/agency, it sends a ripple through the patriarchal continuum the same way Liz Phair's NSFW "Flower" did 21 years ago.

7. Lana Del Rey - "West Coast"
This was my summer jam. Lyrically, it's typical LDR territory, but Dan Auerbach's production brings this one into full Technicolor. The song begins in sun-drenched sparseness, until the stab of a Beatles-esque riff introduces a dark, molasses-thick chorus, then we're back where we started. It's a woozy, noirish trip, but even as we move through it, there's a feeling of being forever frozen in a moment, as if we're inhabiting the music equivalent of David Hockney's "A Bigger Splash."

6. Lizzo - "Go"
This one came out last year, but didn't make it on to my radar until January of this year. There's a tension in this track—a push and pull — between restraint and vulnerability that's extremely appealing and really quite masterful. There is much to love on Lizzo's debut album, but this track, with its simple but soulful chorus and lyrical gold, is the one that just wouldn't let me go (see what I did there?).

5. The War on Drugs - "Red Eyes"
I've loved this band since 2008's Wagonwheel Blues, but this album sealed the deal. With "Red Eyes," in particular, Adam Granduciel's Dylan fetishism expands to embrace Springsteen, Petty, and all the open-highway rock heroes of my youth. The result is the sonic version of a warm, well-worn sweater. That's right, you guys — this song is the L.L.Bean cardigan of rock.

4. St. Vincent - "Digital Witness"
St. Vincent is like a Disney princess with razor-sharp teeth. In "Digital Witness" we get a plucky little anthem for the Age of Instagram. Others have tried their hands at critiques of our collective obsession with social media, but it usually provokes nothing more than eye-rolls. When Annie Clark does it, it actually stings. "If I can't show it / if you can't see me /what's the point of doing anything?" ZING!

3. Future Islands - "Seasons (Waiting On You)"
Remember the "angry dance" scene in Footloose? That's what this heartfelt song wants us to do — just dance off all the pain and disappointment. And if the song alone isn't motivating enough, let frontman Samuel Herring show you how it's done.

2. Father John Misty - "Bored in the U.S.A."
If your last lit class was a long time ago and you need a refresher on the concepts of pathos and bathos, spend some time with this song. Everybody's favorite Ladies' Man croons his way through a character study of American nihilism. And just when it's almost too much to bear, he throws in a laugh track to remind you that This Modern Life is both a comedy and a tragedy.

1. Spoon - "Inside Out"
Though they never play it live anymore, Spoon's 1998 song "Metal Detektor" could stand as the band's artistic statement: "I'm gonna break the bank of Dakota / and walk right out," Britt Daniel sings with swagger. Spoon has made a career out of a kind of sonic larceny, but the end products bear little recognition to their inspirations, and are always 100% Spoon. (What's really going on here is not theft, but reverent, joyful homage.) On "Inside Out," they borrow a beat from Dr. Dre's highly-infectious hit "Still D.R.E.", but make it completely their own by stripping it of its bravado and pairing it with shimmery keyboards and Daniel's soulful vocals. The Beta Band's "Dry the Rain" has ruled over a particular territory of my heart for 17 years; the breezy shuffle of "Inside Out" dethroned it. That is no small feat.

And 5 Honorable Mentions:

TV on the Radio - "Happy Idiot"
Israel Nash - "Rain Plans"
Tropical Depression - "PCH"
Hundred Waters - "Murmurs"
Black Diet - "You Did It to Yourself"

Favorite Local Music Video

Caroline Smith - "Half About Being a Woman"

First of all, I want to believe that Smith is actually cutting her real hair in this video (much like Father John Misty did for "Nancy From Now On"), because, for a lady, that is the ultimate act of SUFFERING FOR YOUR ART. Also, this video proves something that us gals have always known: nothing makes you feel better like a new hairstyle. Okay, both of the aforementioned statements are half in jest, and we're not even going to get into the complicated relationship a woman has to her appearance or the politics therein. Right now, this video is enough. Because I can't go back in time and show this very instructional video to the TOTAL MAN-DUMMY I used to be, I vow to share this with my daughter on her thirteenth birthday. The moral of the story: you're your own worst enemy, but also your best defense.